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General Private Policy
Union Rural Electric does not sell or disclose e-mail, home address, or any personal information to any outside parties.
The www.ure.com web site is owned and operated by Union Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc. along with www.TownSquare.coop, www.ure.coop, www.urec.com, and www.urec.net. All policies here refer to all these domains collectively.
We are sensitive to the fact that our web site visitors are concerned about information they provide and how it is used and we are committed to protecting your privacy. We have developed this policy to address those concerns.
Types of Information We Collect
Information collected on URE's web sites is used only for internal purposes and will not be shared or sold to any party outside Union Rural Electric. A visitor may remove his or her personal information by e-mail request to the URE webmaster.
The URE web site collects both personal information and aggregate information. Personal information relates to an individual - e.g., name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, etc. We collect personal information from individuals who provide it to us voluntarily and knowingly, such as by registering at our site, or providing information to enter a promotion.
We do not require you to register or provide this information to view our site. However, some features of the site may be restricted to members of the cooperative who may identify themselves by registering. Alternatively, the same information may be acquired from us without providing information by calling the Union Rural Electric office.
Aggregate information is information such as how many consumers visit the site, which pages are accessed, what is downloaded, and the types of browsers, operating systems, and internet service providers used. We may collect this information, and combine it with information collected from other visitors. By collecting this information, we learn how to tailor our web site to our visitors.
How Information is Collected
Personal information is collected from the visitor directly and with his or her knowledge. If you enter a promotion, we collect the information needed to participate and for us to fulfill our promotion obligations. If you e-mail us, we collect the e-mail address so that we can respond. We collect aggregate non-personal information on an ongoing basis when you view our web site. This collection is done through cookie technology or with web beacons.
We may use temporary or permanent cookie technology on our web site. They enhance your online experience by saving your preferences while you are visiting the site. Cookies do not contain personal information.
Most browsers can be set up to prevent accepting cookies, or notify you if you receive a new cookie. Cookies allow you to take full advantage of web site features, and we recommend you leave them turned on when visiting our site. Web beacons are instruments that help us determine whether a page or e-mail has been viewed. If you ask for information, we may use web beacons to determine if the page or e-mail was opened. Information we gather with cookies or web beacons are governed by the Union Rural Electric General Privacy Policy.
Contests and Sweepstakes
Our site may include promotions you can enter electronically. Information you provide may be used to contact you if you are a winner.
Questionnaires and Surveys
We may ask visitors to complete surveys about our products, services or relevant opinions. If answers to surveys are posted on the web site, no personal information is included.
How We Use Personal Information
We respect our web site visitor's choice regarding what e-mail you would and would not like to receive. For that reason, we will ask you specifically for your preferences and we will respect those preferences. There are, however, some conditions under which we may need to contact you regardless of your preferences.
We may use your personal information to respond to your requests for information. We may contact you if information is needed in processing a product or service you requested through our web site.
We may ask for personal information, such as your name and telephone number, particularly when you register on our site or request specific products or services. We use this information if we need to contact you because our attempts by e-mail were unsuccessful. We use personal information to improve our marketing efforts, analyze web site usage, and improve our content. We may use personal information to improve our web site, delivering content that is customized to your interests.
You always have the option to ask to be removed from our list. We will not send e-mail communication to children (see Children's Privacy Policy below).
Third Party Support Services
We may hire third party companies to administer promotions, analyze data, fulfill orders, or provide customer service, for example. These agents may have access to personal information only if it is needed to perform their functions for URE; however, they are prohibited from using it for other purposes and they are required to maintain the information in confidence.
We have a relationship with four organizations involved with our web site operations. These companies have access to our member and visitor information for the purposes described above and are bound by agreements of confidentiality. They are: Apogee of Tucker, GA; Data Image of Hopewell, OH; Inside Information of Smithville, MO; National Data Services of St. Charles, IL; NISC of St. Peters, MO; and TSE Services of Raleigh, NC.
Data Sharing and Transfer
We do not sell, transfer, or disclose the personal information we gather at our web site to third parties. There are two exceptions to this rule: (1) We will disclose information when it is necessary to prevent a crime or an injury to ourselves or third parties; and (2) We may disclose information to third parties who provide support services, as described above. There may be times when we share aggregate information with sponsors, business partners, and other third parties to customize or enhance the content of our web site. We may also aggregate data from web log files to understand how visitors navigate the site.
Links to Other Sites
URE makes a reasonable effort to be certain that our links on our web site send you to a safe place on the internet. We cannot guarantee the content of every site to which we provide a link. Always check the privacy policy of the specific site you are visiting.
Choice and Control
You are in control of the personal information you provide to us on our site. You can change or delete the information by e-mailing the URE webmaster.
Note for Kids Under 13
Visitors under 13 years of age should get the permission of their parents before providing any personally-identifiable information to anyone on the internet.
Children's Privacy Policy
Our conduct is governed by federal laws and regulations that address children's online privacy, as well as the guideline of the Childrens' Advertising Review Unit (CARU), a part of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. We do not collect personal information from kids under 13, except as permitted by federal regulations and CARU guidelines. For sweepstakes or contests, we may permit a child to enter by submitting a first name and e-mail address only, along with the name and e-mail address of his/her parent. We notify the parent via e-mail about the child's entry, and offer the parent the opportunity to withdraw the entry and remove the information from our database. If the parent permits the child's entry participation in the promotion, and the child wins, we contact the parent (not the child) for information needed for prize delivery. We do not use the child's personal information for any purpose other than completion of the promotion, and we do not share the information with third parties. We delete the child's personal information from our database within a reasonable time after the promotion. We will retain parent's personal information unless requested otherwise. Under federal law, websites for children under 13 are prohibited from conditioning a child's participation or the child's disclosing more personal information than is reasonably necessary to engage in a web site activity. We fully comply with this requirement. Upon proper identification, a parent can review personal information we have collected from their child. They may request the information be deleted, and/or refuse further collection or use of their child's information. If you wish to do this or have any other questions/concerns, please contact us.
How To Contact Us
Mail: Union Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Attn: Webmaster
15461 US Route 36
PO Box 393
Marysville, OH 43040
Telephone:
1-800-642-1826 ask for the webmaster
8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.
e-mail:
webmaster@ure.com
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